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WHEREAS, June 12th, 2020, marked the fourth anniversary one of the worst mass shootings in recent U.S. history; and,
WHEREAS, 49 people lost their lives and scores were injured during the rage- and homophobia-driven massacre which took place at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida; and,
WHEREAS, In a truly despicable move, the current Presidential Administration decided to dishonor June 12th by choosing this day of solemn remembrance as the day to announce the finalization of rollbacks targeting civil rights protections granted to LGBTQIA+ patients under the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and,
WHEREAS, These protections, which were introduced in 2016 by the Obama Administration, expanded Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to redefine sex discrimination so as to include termination of pregnancy and gender identity, which is defined as one's internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female; and,
WHEREAS, This Council categorically rejects this President's malicious actions which were made in the spirit of divisiveness, bigotry masquerading as religious exemption, and hate perpetuated by 'othering' the diverse LGBTQIA+ community; and,
WHEREAS, To actively seek to roll back the essential and hard-won civil liberties granted under the law is to actively propagate and encourage violence towards the bodies of LGBTQIA+ individuals, especially Black and Brown individuals and transwomen of color who suffer violence at already disproportionately higher levels; and,
WHEREAS, The Council of the City of Pittsburgh is elated to hear and wholeheartedly embraces the Supreme Court ruling issued on Monday, June 15, 2020, which affirmed the interpretation of the Title VII statute granting protection from discrimination on the basis of 'sex' to inherently include those who identify as LGBTQIA+; and,
WHEREAS, While non binary and trans individuals are still not explicitly named as groups protected from discrim...
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